Saw 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'......

[FAST FRED]

......with my sweet, spy story seeking, spouse and, although it was slow-paced and intriguingly complex, we enjoyed it.

The Link

Spoilers ahead!!!!!





I understand real espionage is generally exasperatingly slow and often confusingly confusing, punctuated at times by exciting excitement or final finality and this interesting movie reflects all that very nicely.

Lots of characters, many flashbacks, plenty of English enigma and sometimes the soft-spoken British accents make this a film which, although it does have a barely followable storyline and an almost understandable conclusion, will probably take several viewings and, perhaps, a reading of John le Carre's book to figure out completely.

I watched the seven episode BBC miniseries, starring Alec Guinness, back in 1979 and that helped too.

This film's only two hours long, versus almost five for the original TV version, yet it retains the vibe, the sensibilities, a comparable storyline and the intricate involvements of the earlier, long version.

Gary Oldman plays George Smiley as younger than did Alec Guinness.

And having five hours to fill, Sir Alec played George Smiley for longer.

So, take your pick, I think both actors were excellent in the role.

Oldman is Oscar-nominated here and there's good casting, fine acting, nice cinematography and thankfully a shorter screenplay than what could have been (which undoubtedly required a concerted and by me appreciated screenwriting effort).

Directed by Tomas Alfredson, who gave us the similarly cold and chilling, slow-paced and effective "Let the Right One In."

Of course, here, spy sleuth George Smiley is trying to find the wrong one out.

In this film, it's really hard for an outside viewer to follow and/or understand what's going on within the MI6 headquarters that's known as The Circus.

And those on the inside struggle too.

Probably just as it actually is in the spy game.

The realistic vibe and good acting are what you have/need to enjoy in this slow, atmospheric, enigmatic flick.

Recommended for fans of Gary Oldman, John le Carre books and the MI6 depicting motion picture genre.

Anyone seen it or are all of you moles?

 

[Joe Fan]

It's very slow. I went with a group and most were disappointed. Although we stood around and talked about it for 30m. Even some complete strangers got in on the discussion. Which must say something about it.

A couple things came out of the talk-

--le Carre was listed as an exec producer

-- le Carre was also listed as an actor. He was in the Christmas party scene that was replayed through out. I missed it but will watch for it when I watch it again on cable.

--they did a painstakingly fantastic job of setting the period from the housing and clothing, to the music and cars, to the posters on the walls and haircuts. Bravo!

--everyone who had seen the BBC series thought it was better, and that the story needed the extra time to flush out the plot and characters

I love this genre of film and hope the box was good enough to encourage more. According to IMDb -- the budget came in at £20,000,000 (estimated) while the worldwide box gross was $39,694,989 (which I guess at roughly £ 25M) through Jan 14.

 

[FAST FRED]

Thanks for your reply, Joe Fan.

I enjoyed the vibe and the acting in the current production of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

That seemed right on.

But it was very confusing.

I don't think most moviegoers could/would understand this current screenplay and that's the kiss of death.

I certainly don't recommend it for everyone.

When I said "take your pick," I was mainly comparing Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman.

I thought each did well with their screenplay in the screen time they were given,

The longer, original TV version was also confusing and hard to undertstand.

I might even watch that 5 hour BBC production again with my wife, who read le Carre's book back in the day

.

Enigmatic isn't required to be understandable; however, we did try and, as I said, I enjoyed trying.

This movie reminded me somewhat of 2007's "Zodiac" with Jake Gillenhaal and Mark Ruffino.

IMHO, Director David Fincher, as a storyteller, got bogged down a bit in that flick, although he's recovered nicely with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

In between, he hit a big home run with "The Social Network," showing even a geezer like me the fact and nuance of that social scene and cyber-story.

And he received the Oscar for directing it.

So, I hope he and Tomas Alfredson will keep such interesting film fare coming, because when they get it right......

To me, some other good directors' moviemaking (including Steven Spielberg's, for example), seems too often to be headed the other way.

We'll see.

 

[Burnt Orangeman]

I thought it was plodding and lame (exactly like the John LeCarre book).

 

[Perham1]

I thought it was plodding and lame (exactly like the John LeCarre book).

Yep.

 

[huisache]

Plodding and lame, like the empire the service tried to maintain.

 

[Dionysus]

Plodding and lame, like British dental hygiene. Or was that decayed and crooked?

 

[Joe Fan]

Or, kind of like the replies have become.